One Year Celebration Guests
Join us for our Lunchtime Conversation | Every Tuesday & Thursday | 12pm EST | IG LIVE
Tuesday, April 6th - 12pm - Alana Marez, Founder, Latinx In Sports
Alana is from Arizona where her interest in sports originated as a young child watching La Selección Mexicana on soccer Sundays, a tradition south of the border and after school evenings watching the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Alana graduated from Arizona State University with a B.A. in Sports Business, a minor in Event Management and a certificate in International Business. Upon graduating from ASU, she moved across the ocean to attend Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía (ISDE) in Barcelona, Spain to pursue a master’s degree in Sports Management and Law.
In October of 2020 Alana founded Latinx In Sports, which hopes to further advance Latinx representation and influence in the sports industry beyond September 15th - October 16th. Latinx in Sports looks to build a strong community of Latinxs across the sports industry to amplify our voices and grow our presence through mentorship, organic connection, and love for our culture. Alana is confident that the Latinx in Sports community will empower Latinx in sports and help pave the way for future generations.
Tuesday, April 6th - 7pm - Christine Capella, Online Wellness and Mindset Coach
Thursday, April 8th - Marissa Fernandez, Coach, Consultant, and Seasoned Marketing Executive
Marissa is a coach, consultant, and seasoned marketing executive. In her coaching business, Marissa supports leaders to harness their special sauce of leadership, and to accelerate towards their own definition of success in work and life. She also advises and consults with companies on marketing and brand strategy, and serves as a Performance Strategist for Garnett Consulting, where she aids clients in maximizing fulfillment and potential in their careers.
Marissa’s marketing experience ranges across multicultural marketing, CPG marketing, and sports marketing. Her superpower is her unique ability to empower others to recognize and harness their strengths, to function successfully and confidently, first as individuals and as then as high-performing teams. She is a “Jew-ban,” born to a Jewish mom and Cuban dad, and her own multiculturalism has fueled her multicultural marketing expertise and her participation in and strong advocacy for Diversity and Inclusion efforts.
She recently served as Drive Shack Inc.’s (NYSE: DS) first Chief Marketing Officer, where she oversaw all marketing, community relations, and PR efforts for the growing brand. She also infused new, rigorous data-driven processes into the function (e.g. regular analysis and reporting on venue ratings and reviews) to inform more objective decision-making. Prior to Drive Shack, Marissa spent over 5 seasons at the National Football League. As Vice President of Marketing and Fan Development at the NFL, Marissa led fan acquisition, marketing for the league’s major tentpole events (e.g. Kickoff, Pro Bowl, NFL 100, etc.) and Cause programs (e.g. Play 60, Inspire Change, My Cause My Cleats, etc.), and US Hispanic Marketing.
Prior to the NFL, Marissa served as a Client Solutions Senior Director at Collage Group, consulting with dozens of brands to develop or enhance their multicultural marketing strategies, including the NFL, NBA, ESPN, The Walt Disney Company, Hershey’s, and Univision. Marissa began her career in brand management at Procter & Gamble, where she learned the brand building fundamentals working on powerhouse brands like Tide and Gillette.
Marissa loves to teach and learn. She has guest lectured at New York University and Columbia University Business School and has delivered talks at several industry panels and conferences. She has an insatiable curiosity and love of learning; she reads voraciously and loves traveling to new places. In 2019, Marissa was honored as a Cynopsis Top Women In Sports, celebrating the top 100 female trailblazers in the industry. Also in 2019, Marissa was named one of 30 Latinas of Influence, presented by Hispanic Lifestyle.
Marissa grew up playing competitive sports, and while she only plays for leisure now, principles learned on the field have stayed with her and fueled her success: relentless work ethic, competitive spirit, and team above individual.
Marissa graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Cornell University. She completed a Specialization in Positive Psychology via Coursera and the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Certified Professional Coach, a designation earned via the College of Executive Coaching.
Make sure to take a lunch break and join us!
Until the next,
EP